Wings of the Heart
by Ever Lasting Night Life
Summary: Being different is hard, especially for Riku who wishes that he could get away from Destiny Islands, to discover a new world where his kind is accepted!
1. First Flight

**Wings of the Heart**

**Chapter One:**

First Flight

Daylight shone through the curtains without a hint of perfect cheerful reassurances as the sleeping occupant pulled the covers over his head. Today was another day full of nothing but sunshine at Destiny Islands and this only made Riku feel like he was going to fall back to sleep. A wing poked out of the covers, just barely enough for anyone to see. He longed to be able to fly, to be able to see new worlds but he was confined to his island, an island filled with special children who wouldn't be accepted within the worlds surrounding their island. Opening one eye, he peered over groggily at his wing, feeling unashamed of showing off something that no one else had. Each child that lived on Destiny islands were given something that was unexplainable and magical to each other but to Riku, it was just a constant reminder of something he really wanted to do.

The radio beside his bed came to life, blasting out _"Slept So Long" by Jay Gordon. _It was his favourite song but right now, he had no heart to listen to the heavy rock song. An extremely pale hand pressed down firmly upon the top of the small radio, switching off the music that was slowly beginning to wake everyone else up since it was that loud. Reaching out lazily for his favourite clothing, he quickly changed before his mother or father could call on him for breakfast and leaped out of the window, landing like a sprung cat waiting to launch itself back into the air. The island seemed so peacefully at this time of day, where everyone was still asleep. Walking over to his favourite haunt, the paopu tree, Riku looked outwards the oceans spanning for many horizons. His parents didn't know how to look after him, didn't really know that he was special, just that he had wings.

_Why can't I fly away from here? _He thought as he continued to gaze out towards the oceans once more, his dreams of each world becoming greater with each thought. Becoming completely lost within his own thoughts, he didn't hear the quiet footsteps behind him until he felt the hairs on his back prick up.

"Quit doing that Sora!" He bellowed grumpily at the brown haired boy. A dark brown scaly tail wrapped around the boys right leg before finally unwrapping itself from his masters leg. Sighing impatiently, Riku stood up. He hated being interrupted from his thoughts by anyone, even if it was his friends. His dreams of flying away from the island flew to the back of his mind as he addressed the boy in a tone that simply said "Hurry-up-I-haven't-got-all-day!"

"Why have you disturbed me, Sora?" Riku was being very impatient and grumpy with the brown haired boy and he knew it.

"I was just wondering what you were thinking about but I can already guess what it was, your thinking about flying away from here aren't you?" If the boy was trying to wind him up, challenge him to another one of his "Skills" challenges then he was certainly putting up a good mask for hiding it. Either that or the boy was feeling really concerned for his friend and that he did actually want to know what was going on inside his mind.

"Yeah…parents don't want me too be what I am anymore. They keep treating me like I am a normal child when you of all people know that I'm not! So I just want to leave, experience life in another world before coming back here!"

He spread his magnificent wings sub-consciously, allowing the silver feathers to catch the sun before folding them behind his back once more. Looking at Sora once more, he moved away from the already bewildered boy. No one understood how he felt and he felt he couldn't trust anyone here anymore. It wasn't just his parents but everyone else as well and he knew he couldn't say that to anyone, not even Sora who did seem to be concerned for his friend. Tonight was the night that he was going to finally take his first flight, see if he could sustain himself and move away from the island he already grew to hate. Chilly air whipped up past his smooth silver hair, blowing it out of proportion as he made his way towards the cove. He had to find somewhere where he could be alone, away from everyone else.

"No one understands…" He mumbled to himself as he sat upon the small cliff that lead to one of the local hangouts, a star shaped tree that glowed when you touched it. Looking up at the tree, he gazed at its marvellous beauty and began to wonder if there were anymore of its kind in another world. _Maybe they're all related,_ he thought as a small, almost unnoticeable smirk appeared on his face. He knew that was a ridiculous notion to think about but he also believed that anything was possible. So many thoughts of this place crossed his mind many times, trying to convince him to stay but he pushed them all aside as if they were just annoying wisps of dust that always gathered in-between his feathers. And then for the first time heard it.

"What the hell was that?" he said to no one in particular as he stood up once more. Something wasn't right. Shouts and screams of children began to grow louder every single second. Making his way back towards the main beach, he was shocked to see all of the children being huddled into small groups of four before being bagged off inside a ship he had never seen before. Masks covered the captor's faces and each and every one of them seemed to be waiting for some. Then it all dawned on him. They had come to collect each and every child off that island because of what they were, special beings with special attributes to each and everyone of them. Unfurling his wings slowly, he noticed Sora, Kairi and Naminé being huddled into a small net along with a small blond boy with scales growing up his body that he knew only by the name of Tidus.

One of the masked captors noticed him and attempted to try and grab hold of him before realizing what a huge mistake he had made. Plunging the palm of his left arm straight into the mans face, Riku felt a slight crack as he completely flattened the nose that was just barely poking outside of the mask. The man reeled over in pain, ignoring the fact that Riku was already spreading his wings as wide as possible. At one last feeble attempt, one of the captors reached out to grab hold of the boy as he made his way towards the paopu tree, getting ready to lift his feet off the ground at any second, and one he finally did, he turned around and kicked the captor squarely in the face before taking off into the brilliant blue skies above the islands.


	2. Where Am I?

**Chapter 2  
**

**Where Am I?**

The air seemed to change considerably as he flew further and further away from the horror that was still awaiting for him back home. Blood dripped freely from his hand where he had hit one of the sick bastards squarely in the nose, shattering it to pieces. That was also something that he was gifted with. In order to be able to fly and hold his momentum, his strength was abnormal compared to anyone else's strength. He too one look back at the fading island before continuing on into the peaceful atmosphere that was always forbidden to him when he was still living with his parents.

"All that was shattered though wasn't it? By those bastards who think that they can just take us away and perform experiments on us!" He spoke bitterly to himself as his wings caressed the fragile clouds around them, breaking them into smaller versions of themselves. His version wasn't at pin-point accuracy like a birds but the brightly lit world that was looming ahead of him wasn't easily missed. As he looked at the town however, a sudden rush of pain caused him to scream out in agony and before he knew what was happening, he fell through the clouds, his vision darkening every second.

Traverse Town was filled with all sorts of people from different worlds, except from Destiny islands of course. After all, everyone attempted to seek refuge from what was rumoured to be a horrific disaster that was affecting the children on the small isle of Destiny Islands. Yuffie knew that this was the only reason why everyone was afraid to visit the island. However, out of her curiosity, she wished that she could be able to see the star shaped tree that was rumoured to spread the magical properties to each and every child that lived on that island. Traverse Town was far to busy for her anymore. She wanted to be able to relax in the beach, even if a couple of children with scales tried to talk to her. Looking up towards the skies, she witnessed what looked like a shooting star whisking over head, but something was wrong with it. It was only heading downwards.

"Oh no…" She gasped as she caught a glimpse of what looked like a pair of beautiful wings before running all the way back into the First District. Traverse Town was separated into three districts. The First District often welcomed travellers and people who were seeking out a place to stay in Traverse Town. The Second District was probably the most popular out of all three districts due to its thousands and thousands of shops and the third district was home to the old wizard Merlin, a magical being just like the children of Destiny Islands. Yuffie's favourite haunt was the Third District. It was where she hung out in the vacant house with Leon, Aerith and Cloud, the only friends she had left now since she had left her former world a long time ago.

Yuffie's sudden gasp caught the attention of many who were inspecting the body that had fallen out of the sky, but what she saw on their faces said it all. Whoever had fallen out of the sky wasn't normal. Pushing past the throng of people that were still gathering, she knelt down beside the silver haired boy. _Where is his wings? _She thought suddenly as she realised that they weren't straightened out for everyone else to see. Gently placing her hands under the small of his back, hoping to see if she could feel a patch of skin that told her where his wings were, but her excitement took over as se picked up on the soft feathers. Looking back into his pale features, she realised how beautiful he was for a boy. _Now that's unusual, _she thought before an icy voice cut through her thoughts.

"It's one of them freaks from Destiny Islands!" One of the towns folk said as the crowd began to slowly move away from the boy. Yuffie ignored that comment and began to check to see if the boy was still alive by checking his pulse. To her surprise, it was still beating as if nothing had happened to him in the first place. Grabbing hold of his left arm, she lifted it over her head and hefted most of his weight onto her as she carried him off towards the hotel that she was staying in, hoping that she wasn't going to affect him or the others by doing this. The boy jerked suddenly and finally opened his eyes. Although groggy, she could tell that he could make her out.

"Where am I?"


	3. A New Home

Chapter 3 

**A New Home**

Examining his surroundings from the bed that he was lying on, his unusual azure blue irises fell upon the female ninja who seemed to pacing around as if she was waiting for him to awaken from his undisturbed sleep. He had no dreams this time, no horrible nightmares about his friends becoming captives but he knew what he had to do. He had to find out where they had taken his friends. They must have all been counting on him but when he moved to sit up, a throbbing pain interrupted his thoughts as if it had the right to stay within his mind. He bit down on his lip to hold the scream in but he knew that it would been no good.

"What…the hell is happening to me?" he spoke to no one in particular, forgetting that the female ninja was in the room. Looking up at the boy in surprise, Yuffie immediately grabbed hold of his arms to try and prevent him from fainting from the pain but it didn't work. After a few more minutes however, he finally snapped out of it. "What…what just happened?"

"You began to scream…say, what's your name anyway?" Her voice worked wonders in helping the grogginess dissipate from his mind once more. Looking back towards the ninja, he couldn't help but notice that there was nothing unusual about her. No tail, no scales and most definitely no wings. She was as perfect a human as they came.

"Riku…" he mumbled darkly as he looked through the window towards the sky. What was that pain that interrupted his graceful flight through the clouds? And how did he survive that fall? After all he was about fifteen thousand feet in the air. Spreading out his wings subconsciously once more, he ignored the gasp that came from the female ninja. _I'm part bird, get used to it,_ he thought bitterly before moving over to the window.

"Hey, where are you going?" She asked as he got prepared to dive out of the window and execute into what he thought would be a perfect flight dive. However, he turned around to face her once more.

"Out…" he simply said before diving out of the window backwards, using all the muscles in his back to beat his wings as he flew towards the second district. The sound of a distant chime reached his ears as he gazed down at the town. He couldn't handle being stuck in one room with someone just as annoying as that ninja, but he knew that he was going to need help trying to make his way around here. Fear of being different began to slowly build itself inside him but he ignored as best as he could until he landed on top of what looked like a Gizmo Shop.  
The view itself was breathtakingly beautiful and he began to realise what he had been missing most of his life when he looked down at the families below the Gizmo Shop, laughing and cheering as they went by. He perched himself on the edge of the building itself, getting ready to fly once more. There were two districts that he was dying to see and he wasn't going to stop until he saw them with his own beautiful azure eyes. Diving off of the building, he swung his body into a perfect arch before beating his wings rapidly. People gasped and cheered as they saw him fly past, obviously thinking that this must have been a publicity stunt but he didn't care what they thought about him. Landing perfectly upon the district doors, his eyes caught on to the female ninja once more, obviously out looking for him but this time it was different.  
The scene below looked like one small, pretty female ninja being surrounding by several much bigger masked figures that he easily recognised. _So, decided to follow me huh?_ He thought before landing coolly in front of the district doors, feeling quite cocky as he began to spit his venom at the captors.

"I don't like being followed!" He spat viciously at the men in masks as they turned around and slowly advanced him, their precious nets in hand. Grabbing hold of the nearest one, he threw him into one of the many brick walls before taking to the air. Diving down out of the reach of his captors, he grabbed hold of the female ninja before taking off towards the third district, the very one he wanted to explore himself.


	4. A Significant Problem

**Chapter 4**

**A Significant problem**

Five more armed men ran quietly and easily through the ageless buildings and the towering clock tower that were two single characteristics to Traverse Town. They didn't see him yet, but they knew it wasn't going to be long before they caught up with the subject named Riku. He was on foot now after all.

They were jogging rapidly, but every so often the man in front picked up the pace a significant notch or two. All of them were good, competent trackers, each a leader in their own way, but he was the best, a natural leader. He was more focused on the mission, more controlled; the best hunter and he knew it was a mistake to send A429 after the boy.

"We've got a new lead!" One of the men shouted towards Sephiroth, causing him to scowl lightly. Turning towards the interruption, he grabbed hold of the walkie-talkie and listened to the instructions that were being sourly given to the soldier. Apparently, the boy was in hiding with a female ninja, he only went by the name of Yuffie Kisaragi. Tossing the walkie-talkie back to the soldier, he proceeded on without taking any note of the instructions that were given. After all, no one gave instructions to Sephiroth. If they did, they were going to get an unsuspected surprise lashing out from the silver tip of his sword, _Masamune._ He was the only soldier to own a sword in their line of ranks and yet the heavy object didn't stop him from getting what he wanted.  
_Success!_

Landing in front of the vacant looking house, Riku placed the ninja on her feet in what he thought was a gentleman – like manner.

"I never knew you could be such a gentle man…Riku!" She teased bitterly. It was obvious to him that she wanted to fight those guys that were going to demand questions from her on his current whereabouts. He couldn't let that get out, not even if she didn't know what was going on. He watched her walk away. This was something that he couldn't help her with gentle words but there was something that he wanted from her.

"Hey…what's your name?" She turned back towards him, disgust in her eyes before saying her name quietly.

"Yuffie…" After that, she walked away, tears beginning to flood her eyes. He felt that he should have gone after her, but he didn't want to dabble in human affairs. He just wanted to get his friend back that was all. Pushing his way into the vacant house, he was stopped short by a strange sword lunging out expertly from the inside. Ducking out of the way, he realised that someone who obviously didn't trust his kind just as much as the people who lived in the First District occupied the house. Looking up towards the doorway, he saw a tall, blonde haired man stride out towards him, a hint of hate in his eyes.

"What do you want here, freak?" _Now that was harsh,_ he thought as he tried to come up with a descent answer.

"Cloud…leave him be!" An icy voice bellowed out, causing the blonde to walk off in a huff back inside the house. Someone came back outside, but it wasn't this "Cloud", this time. It was a tall man with dark hair and oddly probing azure blue eyes. Noticing the feathered wings that lay sprawled upon the floor, he smirked in an unhidden interest. There was something that Riku didn't quite like about this man, but once they got to know him, they would probably think the same about his attitude towards people, especially those who try to touch his precious wings, the only parts of his body that allowed him to travel to different worlds without having to pay for a Gummi Ship ride.

"They will keep coming after you, just because of what you are!" The man spoke with ice in his voice that oddly sent shivers down Riku's Spine. How did he know about who was chasing him? And why was he treated like a freak to some and to others, a saviour of sorts? These two questions began to annoy him as they always did but he pushed them aside, not wanting to act like his friend, _Sora_ who would have constantly hounded them with questions.

"Get inside!" The man ordered and Riku quickly objected. He could already sense the footfalls that were waiting at the doors of the Second District, could easily recognise the angry tapping of each foot that fell towards the ground.

The house itself didn't have much to it. In fact all that was inside was a chest of drawers, one bed and a wardrobe. This place was obviously their base of operations but it still amazed him that two men and a woman could fit inside. The woman smiled at him serenely, her braid draping itself over her pretty little neck. Tucking his wings behind his back, he looked less and less like the boy that escaped from Destiny islands within each minute of waiting inside that house. Soldiers passed the house without giving it a second glance, obviously thinking that it was still vacant. However, one soldier stood out from the rest of them. Unlike the others, he wore no mask, saw no need of it. His long, silver hair matched the colour of the dangerous looking sword on his back.

"Great! They have that bastard with them!" Cloud spoke coldly as he stood by Riku and Squall who were now all looking out of the window without actually going up to it to stop any of them realizing who was inside.

"Who is he?" Riku asked, feeling even more confused within every second of staying here.

"That is Sephiroth…the best soldier ever…"


	5. Plans

By now, he wished that his hearing was more sensitive than what it was but he knew that he would have to do with human hearing for now. However something struck him about the blonde's behaviour. It was as if he had the one gift that Riku longed for but he kept it a secret, just like he tried to keep his wings hidden. Icy blue eyes kept watch as each soldier stormed past the small house, keeping a sharp eye out for something that was particularly out of the ordinary. Something told Riku that these eyes had seen war long before he came to Traverse Town, possibly in a world that Riku didn't know much about. Turning his eyes back towards the soldiers outside, he took one more look at the soldier with long, silver hair, noticing how similar it was to his own.

He hated becoming the prey to people who wanted to perform deadly experiments on him, but watching the soldier's storm by gave him an idea. He knew that what he had in mind was going to be crazy and that Yuffie would already disapprove of what he was going to suggest but he didn't really give a damn about what she thought. After all, all he wanted to do was be reunited with his friends. However, thinking about each special face reminded him of the island and how much he missed the beautifully white sandy shores of Destiny Islands. _Maybe one of these days I will be able to go back, _he thought before pushing that thought aside, the sudden adrenaline of what he was about to do reaching its climax as he pushed open the window.

"And where do you think your going?" Yuffie's voice was enough to make the small hairs on his neck stand on end. Now he finally knew what it meant when someone referred to a woman's wrath. Looking back towards each of them, a slight grin appeared on his face before unfurling his wings and diving out backwards, coming into a perfect bank to the right before finally gaining altitude as he rose higher and higher into the sky before he finally became nothing but a speck against the clouds. This height was perfect for him to see the swarming hordes of soldiers crowding around each other, but it wasn't perfect for them to notice him. Keeping his eyes on the soldiers, he did not notice the dark shadow behind him until it was too late.

"We told you to stay put!" An angry voice bellowed. A flash of blonde told him simply that it was Cloud who had been following him. Looking at the angry blonde, he noticed that only one wing graced the back of the cold, hard man and yet it made Riku wonder how it was possible for him to keep his balance with one wing at this height. Ignoring the angry comment, Riku pressed on, beating his graceful wings faster and faster so he could keep up with the soldiers.

"Why is it so important for you to keep up with them?" Now that hit a nerve that was well hidden inside Riku. Turning back towards the blonde, he tried to keep his cool while he explained to him what had happened at Destiny Islands.

After that, Cloud said nothing for a while. Banking to the right once more, Riku signalled to Cloud to follow him. After all, he was going to need as many allies as possible, even if it meant having someone with one wing who was as cold as ice. The soldiers were all piling into what looked like the old Gizmo Shop building. _So that must be where they hold each briefing for different operations, _he thought before losing altitude at a slow, steady pace. Pulling his legs up until he was almost in a crouch position, he landed quietly upon the roof, followed by Cloud who was beginning to look scarier each second. There was obviously something else to all this for the blonde, something deep but Riku took no time to ponder over what it was.

"So this must be their base of operations?" He questioned, looking over at the blonde who simply nodded back. Crouching down as low as they could, each of them watched from the skylight upon the roof as the soldiers crowded into the room below. That was when both of them got the shock of their lives.

"Open fire!"


End file.
